Please let me know verbally

This is something that I am constantly having to tell the sighted world about and it applies primarily to persons such as sales persons and support staff at stores.

Whenever you shake your head in response to a question that I have asked I am unable to know because I cannot hear when you shake your head. Whenever you point to something in the store or point to let me know where something is I am unable to understand what or where you are pointing to because I am unable to hear what or where you are pointing to, and whenever you place a sheet of paper in front of me without telling me that it is in front of me, the same thing happens.

The same applies whenever you ask me to sign something without showing me where to sign. It does not do any good for you to place the sheet of paper in front of me, place the pen on the sheet of paper, and then point to the spot. I need verbal cues from you from start to finish.

I know, things have improved over the years but I also know that this will continue to be a learning process for everyone.

I'm Donna J. Jodhan, your friendly accessibility advocate, wishing you a terrific day.

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"Each time we raise our voice at someone else we are engaging in bullying! Each time we raise our hands to slap or punch someone else we are also engaging in bullying and each time we engage in actions to either manipulate or force someone else to do what we want we are also engaging in bullying!

There is no room in this world for bullying and each day we fail to take action against bullying it is another day that we allow others to bully us and our kids. Our heroes and role models are the ones who have made us proud, those brave young men and women who gave their lives for us in past wars and those who continue to do so. They are not the ones who choose to be racists and those who believe that their bad behaviour in public is acceptable.

I write and record audio mysteries that are being used at such events as murder mystery evenings as well as at public awareness and team building events. I promote understanding, tolerance, and problem solving and my audio mysteries continue to be broadcasted around the world and you can listen to them anywhere! On the plane or train! In the car or right there in your home! On your i device or computer!

Please join my campaign against bullying (CAB) by supporting my efforts to keep on writing and recording!
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No need to ask mom

This is something that I have written about on several occasions and continue to write about. It's all about sales persons who seem to feel that when speaking to me, they feel more comfortable doing so by asking my mom or whoever is with me at the time.

A few weeks ago I went shopping with mom, and as we started to choose some clothes for me to try on the sales lady came up beside us and proceeded to start asking, "What does she like? What are her favorite colors? Would she like this jacket, you think?"

In the normal scheme of things, I would have said something but on that day my tongue seemed to have frozen and I let it all go. When we got home, I asked my mom for her observations and she agreed with me that she would not have appreciated the sales lady doing this to her. I guess that the reason that I may not have spoken up was that the sales lady did not seem to
realize her insensitivity. She was very nice and extremely polite.

This is really not an excuse for my not having spoken up. If I and my fellow blind and sight-impaired brothers and sisters hope to change things, we need to speak up and do it consistently, politely, and gently. Educating others is the only way to do it and hopefully the by word of mouth technique will do the rest.

I'm Donna J. Jodhan your friendly accessibility advocate wishing you a terrific day and urging you to go out there and help spread the word. Visit www.afb.org or www.acb.org to learn more.

The Dilemma with Salespersons

This continues to be a challenge for me; how best to deal with sales persons.  I don't think that it would be much different for the mainstream person but when you are blind you somehow need to put much more trust in your sales person.

 

It is easier for the person who can see but when you can't you have to depend on them to be honest with you.  If you ask for something you have to depend on them to aptly describe the merchandise to you.  For example; color, style, and in the case of food, that it is fresh and not rotting or spoiling.  I can normally do a good job at feeling the merchandise to ensure that it is what I want but when it comes to colors and styles of clothing, then I am at the mercy of the sales person.

 

I have met really nice and honest sales persons but from time to time I meet a bad apple who tries to slide one past me; maybe just trying to either get rid of me or not having enough patience to deal with me.  Whatever it is, I have to be ready to deal with it.  All in a day's work.

 

I'm Donna J. Jodhan your friendly accessibility advocate wishing you a terrific day and encouraging you to go out there and tell others about the challenges that blind persons face when dealing with sales persons.

Visit www.afb.org to learn more.